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Silicon carbide suppliers are leveraging partnerships with customers and regional bodies to gain leverage in a roaring war for market share and dominance of the hot sector
The silicon carbide (SiC) market is not for the faint of heart. The first skirmishes for control of the market began decades ago, long before anyone could imagine it would eventually become a multi-billion-dollar business offering great advantages to power electronics and automotive semiconductor designers. Today, those early battles to establish defensive positions in the fledgling SiC business have turned into a full-blown but still low-intensity war.
The top manufacturers, raw material and ingot suppliers and customers are jostling for control of the SiC market and pouring billions of dollars into new fabs and creating supply alliances and technology innovation partnerships to advance their interests. This is a war being fought on numerous fronts, from the boardroom to the fabs and government regulatory offices. The court has been dragged in and even social media platforms have hosted part of the muscle flexing with supplier executives directly laying out SiC strategies, investment plans and commitment objectives for their varied audiences.
“Exciting news,” declared Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG, on his LinkedIn page early last month. “We are building by far the world’s largest 200mm production facility for silicon carbide chips at our site in Kulim, Malaysia. This way, we are further strengthening our leadership in power systems and create the conditions for Infineon Technologies’ sustainable profitable growth.”
Demand for SiC has skyrocketed from multiple industry segments, including power for automobiles—especially electric vehicles—other transportation modes such as trains and aviation, electrification projects, industrial machinery, medical equipment, 5G, cloud and other communication infrastructure, and other electronic applications requiring high hardiness, strong wearing and thermal resistance. Suppliers and their OEM customers have also been successful in resolving technological and higher cost challenges that initially plagued the product. By accelerating innovations and extending its application across multiple market segments, SiC suppliers have also made it an attractive option for many OEMs that now consider it a viable option to regular silicon, according to industry executives and observers.
With demand surging, SiC suppliers have raised their market share and sales projections. All the leading players, including Wolfspeed, Infineon, STMicroelectronics and On Semiconductor, now say they want a larger share of the SiC pie. STMicroelectronics says it wants to boost sales of SiC to more than $5 billion yearly by 2030; Infineon is shooting for $7 billion plus in SiC revenue over the next years; The targets are not mere wishful thinking on the part of these companies. Steps taken over the last few years to shore up supplies, build alliances, popularize the use of SiC and fund the construction of new or expansion of existing facilities have helped to raise the products’ profile globally. These actions are also assuring OEMs that components for their designs incorporating SiCs would be available in sufficient quantities.
SiC manufacturers have reached a stage now where convincing OEMs to adopt the device has become much easier than 5 or 10 years ago. The advantages of SiC over regular silicon semiconductors in several applications are considered so obvious that it is no longer necessary to lay out a raft of reasons why it should be used. The challenge suppliers now face is different. They must assure customers that they will be able to meet their needs and that efforts are being made to reduce average selling prices. Suppliers have been swift to respond. They are pouring billions into new SiC facilities and taking steps to secure raw material supplies. They have gone as far as bringing OEMs into direct discussions about their supply strategies and opened negotiations on financing transactions and partnerships. The alliances with customers are critical to the achievement of sales objectives, industry executives said.
STMicroelectronics, for example, recently announced plans to build a 200mm silicon carbide fab with Sanan Optoelectronics in China. The two companies said they will form a $3.2 billion joint venture that would own the fab, which would be constructed at a cost of $2.4 billion over 5 years. Both companies will jointly finance the new fab in addition to support from the local Chinese government and loans from ST. Production at the new fab is expected to commence late in 2024. The site will primarily address sales opportunities in China, they said. To ensure adequate supply of raw materials, Sanan will also build a new 200mm SiC substrate plant that would service the joint venture.
“The new joint venture silicon carbide fab is … an important step to further scale our global silicon carbide manufacturing operations, coming in addition to our continuing significant investment in Italy and Singapore,” said Jean-Marc Chery, president and CEO of STMicroelectronics, while discussing the company’s second quarter financial results. “The capacity at the full buildout will be 10,000 wafer per week of 200 millimeter in 2028. The confidence level on 200 millimeters is very high, because [Sanan] has a process we know very well. It will be one of the key enablers of the opportunity we see to reach above $5 billion silicon carbide yearly revenues by 2030.”
Other partnerships aimed at ensuring adequate supplies of SiC to customers have been announced by all the leading suppliers. Most of the transactions announced run into billions of dollars, showing the industry is at the early stages in the SiC capacity enhancement and investment campaign. The announcement of so many SiC deals should not cause any concerns about oversupply. The market is far from being saturated and demand continues to increase strongly, according to observers. In addition to the existing applications, new ones are constantly being added as more OEMs explore the use of SiC in the design of devices that are used in hardy and power sensitive environments, they noted.
“SiC enables particularly powerful, fast-switching, and compact system solutions with lower power consumption—for example in electromobility, but also for applications like solar, energy storage systems and EV charging,” said Infineon’s Hanebeck, in his LinkedIn post. “As the energy transition continues to accelerate, the SiC market is following suit and developing clearly above projections. We want to leverage this development and drive decarbonization together with our customers who have signaled us their long-term need with an incremental design-win volume of over €5 billion in automotive and industrial applications as well as around €1 billion of related pre-payments.”
Hassane El-Khoury, president and CEO of On Semiconductor, another major player in the SiC market, does not post comments on LinkedIn as frequently as his Infineon counterpart but even he is not averse to using the medium to tout his company’s activities in the segment. Three months ago, El-Khoury used the platform to announce a new agreement his company had just signed. On Semi and Vitesco Technologies, a supplier of “electric drives, electronic controls, sensors and actuators, and exhaust gas treatment solutions,” in May struck a $1.9 billion, 10-year supply agreement under which the American chipmaker would provide SiC products to the German enterprise. In addition, Vitesco also agreed to invest $250 million in On Semi “for new equipment for SiC boule growth, wafer production and epitaxy to secure access to SiC capacity,” the companies said, in a statement. “Big news indeed,” said El-Khoury, on his LinkedIn page after the transaction was announced.
“Energy-efficient silicon carbide power semiconductors are at the beginning of a big surge in demand,” said Andreas Wolf, CEO of Vitesco Technologies, in the statement announcing Vitesco’s agreement with On Semiconductor. “That is why it is imperative for us to get access to the complete SiC value chain together with Onsemi. With this investment we have a secure supply of a key technology over the next ten years and beyond.”
Many such news and contracts on SiC have been announced in the last couple of years as companies began realizing the potential of the SiC market. For example, in July, Renesas Electronics Corp. said it would extend a loan of $2 billion to Wolfspeed Inc. to secure a 10-year agreement for the supply of silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers. Renesas, which had been exploring ways to strengthen its presence in the SiC power market, struck the agreement with Wolfspeed “to scale production of silicon carbide semiconductors starting in 2025,” the company said, in a statement announcing the transaction. “The wafer supply agreement with Wolfspeed will provide Renesas with a stable, long-term supply base of high-quality silicon carbide wafers,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, President and CEO of Renesas. “This empowers Renesas to scale our power semiconductor offerings to better serve customers’ vast array of applications. We are now poised to elevate ourselves as a key player in the accelerating silicon carbide market.”
Wolfspeed, in turn, gained the financial resources it required for the massive SiC fab expansion activities it had just embarked upon, reducing pressures on the company’s cash position. The Renesas deal adds to other strategic financial and supply agreements Wolfspeed has arranged with other industry players. Earlier this year, it announced a partnership with ZF to create a “joint innovation lab to drive advances in silicon carbide systems and devices for mobility, industrial and energy applications.” The term of the engagement includes a substantial investment by ZF “to support the planned construction of the world’s most advanced and largest 200mm silicon carbide device fab in Ensdorf, Germany,” the companies said.
“Together, Wolfspeed and ZF combine expertise in power electronics and systems with a know-how in applications that is unparalleled in the industry,” said Stephan von Schuckmann, Member of the ZF Board of Management. “At ZF we have a unique understanding of the overall systems across all sectors—from passenger cars and commercial vehicles to construction machinery, wind power and industrial applications. The close cooperation between fab and R&D center will enable us to develop breakthrough innovations beyond state of the art for the benefit of our customers.”
In May, ZF and Wolfspeed followed up their initial partnership with an agreement to create a joint European R&D center for SiC in Nuremberg. The facility, which is partly funded by the German government as part of the European Union’s Common European Interest scheme, would focus on developing technological and product breakthroughs to enhance the region’s position in the SiC market, they said. Leveraging financial and technology partnerships gives Wolfspeed the breathing room it needs to pursue the larger objectives of keeping ahead of the competition and assuring suppliers it will be able to meet their future needs. The company has been expanding its existing facilities in the US and adding new ones worldwide. In June, it raised $1.25 billion from investors — with options for an additional $750 million — to fund a massive $6.5 billion capacity expansion plan previously announced. In addition to the 200mm wafer fab the company plans to establish in Saarland, Germany, it opened in 2022 a 200mm fab in Mohawk Valley and began construction on a new SiC manufacturing center in North Carolina.
Once all the new facilities come online over the next years, the industry would be in a better position to more accurately determine the amount of supply capacity it has built to serve the growing demand and assess which of the suppliers achieved their market share objectives and won the SiC war. This will take years, however. Until then, the industry will remain locked in a competitive manufacturing capacity buildout phase.


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Velocity has unveiled its latest outdoor and press campaign by CHE Proximity that celebrates Velocity Frequent Flyer reaching 10 million members in the program.
The campaign plays on surprising insights about how Australians are spending (or not spending) their points, visually linking members’ behaviours to top global trending topics including Trump and Brexit.
CHE Proximity worked with world-renowned illustrator Noma Bar to create a series of eye-raising designs which include Boris Johnson getting kicked in the face, Trump being held in chopsticks and, well, Byron looking very relaxed.
Dean Chadwick, Velocity chief marketing officer explained: “Virgin brands are famous for finding new ways to disrupt categories and stay relevant. It’s our job to look at how our members are engaging with the Velocity program, and find ways to make it more rewarding. We found some interesting insights linking topics that are culturally trending with the habits of our members. We explored this, and struck gold. Our challenge was to then find an entertaining (uniquely Virgin way) to promote our program and we hope this makes our members smile.”
“When we were asked to celebrate how Velocity’s 10 million members were using the program, we knew we had to find a fresh way of presenting the data. Luckily, Australia’s flying habits have amusing parallels with topics that frequently make headlines around the world.” added Ashley Wilding, Creative Director at CHE Proximity.
The ads will run in outdoor media across the country as well as some press and digital activity.
Velocity Frequent Flyer
Chief Marketing Officer – Dean Chadwick
Head of Customer Marketing – Steve Baird
Innovation Lead – Ella Gowland
Modelling and Insight Specialist -Tracy Lam
Chief Creative Officer – Ant White
Creative Directors – Ashley Wildling, Daniel Davison
Senior Designer – Vanessa Saporito
Chief Strategy Officer – David Halter
Chief Media Officer – Ben Sheppard
Head of Media – Daniel Bradley
Media Product Executive – Cam Toohey
Investment Manager – Elizabeth Lonsdale
Client Partner – Katie Dally
Group Account Director – Sam McGown
Senior Account Manager – Laura Eagleton
Account Manager – Brandon Rahme
Production Company – Dutch Uncle Agency
Founder: Helen Cowley
Senior Agent: Joel Minter
Illustrator: Noma Bar
OOH Media vendor
Culture-leading publisher Highsnobiety continues to evolve its local operations with the appointment of Citizens of Culture as its strategic partner across media operations within Australia. Highsnobiety is a premium global brand dedicated to cultural pioneers, with work spanning across digital platforms, print media, documentaries, cutting edge events, a shopping platform and a full service creative […]
An investigation by British broadcaster ITV has found that Amazon is destroying millions of items in unsold or returned stock. The report specifically focuses on one of the 24 warehouses the company has in the UK. According to ITV News, the destroyed items are largely unused and new, either returned items or those which never […]
Australian fashion brand Witchery has partnered with B Corp GlamCorner as part of GlamCorner’s subscription box offering as the demand for everyday essentials soars. This partnership marks another milestone for the Australian fashion industry towards becoming more circular and introducing more paths to reduce textile waste. Customers nationally will be able to rent more of […]
The media, marketing and creative industries are being encouraged to host their own ‘Curry Club for COVID’ before 30th June to help meet the ambitious $100k target set by its organisers. Curry Club for COVID, which was conceived by long-time adtech executive Peter Bray, sales director at Impact, and is powered by industry social purpose organisation […]
The UnLtd Cup is returning for its tenth consecutive year, marking a decade of soccer shenanigans that’s raised nearly $500,000 for children’s mental health charity, KidsXpress. On July 22-23rd, 28 teams from across the industry will battle it out on the soccer field in the two-day tournament at Sydney University Sports and Fitness Centre, Darlington. […]
Australian-bred company Ultra Commerce has acquired New Zealand-based company Vesta eCommerce, a global software business providing leading product data management solutions. The recent acquisition is a significant move for the business, which is Australian born, owned, and headquartered, but has built out a global presence as it pursues rapid growth in the eCommerce market. Connecting […]
Canteen’s latest campaign features the combined talents of Director Luna Laure and creative agency Crater. The campaign strives to raise awareness for young people affected by cancer. The awareness campaign centres around Harry Barentson, who at 12 years of age found out his pregnant mum had cancer. The campaign aims to bring awareness to Canteen’s […]

domain: news


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China's gold production and demand are forecast to continue rapid growth over the coming years as local incomes rise and the precious metal is more widely purchased for jewelry and investment.
According to the Gold Survey 2007 published by Gold Fields Mineral Services Ltd (GFMS), a London-based precious metals consultancy, though global gold output dropped slightly last year, China's production of the precious metal increased 8 percent year-on-year to hit 247 tons and overtake Australia as the world's third-largest gold producer.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top industry regulator, said that the country produced 122 tons of gold in the first six months of this year, up 15 percent, from the same period a year earlier.
NDRC said in February that the nation's 2007 gold production will reach 260 tons, which would be another 8 percent annual increase.
The NDRC projected that total gold production in China will be 1,300 tons from 2006 to 2010.
Philip Klapwijk, executive chairman of GFMS, said that the surge in China's gold output is stimulated by robust domestic demand and rising global prices.
China is now also the world's third-biggest gold consumer, following the United States and India. Demand for gold totaled 259.6 tons last year, up 3 percent from 2005.
Demand in 2006 included 244.7 tons for jewelry, up 1 percent, and 14.9 tons for investment, an increase of 27 percent.
"Consumer demand for gold in China will continue to grow this year following consecutive increases over the past four years," said Klapwijk, due to rising disposable incomes, the Chinese tradition of valuing gold and the further opening up of the domestic gold market.
The World Gold Council, a London-based marketing organization funded by the world's leading gold miners, earlier forecast that consumer gold demand in China will reach 600 tons annually in coming years.
Albert Cheng, managing director of the World Gold Council Far East, said that jewelry consumption is still the dominant use for gold, taking 90 percent of the market.
Yet GFMS's survey showed that Chinese interest in gold bars and coins, especially commemorative ones for China's Year of the Pig and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is very promising.
"They (the gold bars and coins) are regarded as safe and reliable investment tools, amid fluctuations in the nation's stock market and rising property prices," said Sun Zhaoxue, head of the China Gold Association. He said he believes individual gold investment will grow faster than jewelry purchases.
Growth in both gold production and demand in the country is also spurred by rising prices on international markets.
Official statistics show that the average price of aurum-99.99 gold in China jumped by 32.35 percent, or 37.95 yuan a gram, last year over 2005.
Domestic gold prices began fluctuating in line with changes in the world market in 2001 when the Shanghai Gold Exchange, China's sole national bourse for the metal, was formed in a move to open up market for the precious metal.
Trading volume at the exchange, where there are 149 members making spot transactions in renminbi, increased by 37.81 percent last year over 2005 to a total of 1,249.3 tons.
The survey forecasts that world gold prices will exceed $700 an ounce by the end of this year compared with the current $640 to $680, and might rise to $850 an ounce next year.
Source: China Daily


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Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 to Introduce FDA-Approved Heart-Rate Monitoring Feature
Samsung announced today that the IHRN (Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification) component of the existing ECG (Electrocardiogram) feature on Galaxy Watches received FDA clearance. Galaxy Watch users will soon be able to use the BioActive Sensor on their Wear OS wearables to look for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib).
Samsung says the FDA-cleared IHRN feature will debut on the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 smartwatch series as part of One UI 5 Watch. The series is rumored to consist of a standard model and a Classic variant that should have a physical rotating bezel.
The company also says that the FDA-approved IHRN feature will expand to previous Galaxy Watch editions after the Watch 6 series debuts.
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According to the company, the FDA-cleared IHRN feature is activated within the Samsung Health Monitor app and runs in the background using the BioActive Sensor to detect irregular heart rhythms. This feature was initially introduced with the Galaxy Watch 4 series, meaning it will be available on Watch 4 and subsequent models.
The availability of this feature is also confirmed by the upcoming One UI 5 Watch update, which will be exclusive to Wear OS Galaxy smartwatches and will not be available on older Tizen-powered models like the Galaxy Watch 3.
Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy Watch 6 series at an early Unpacked event, potentially taking place in late July. The release of the One UI 5 Watch update is scheduled to follow. Recently, Samsung officially announced some of the features of the upcoming smartwatch update, including improved sleep tracking, personalized heart rate zones, and enhanced safety features like Fall Detection and automatic SOS calls.
The tech giant emphasizes that this latest development serves as another illustration of Samsung’s commitment to proactive safety solutions, as well as their dedication to empowering users with a comprehensive understanding of their cardiovascular and overall health.
- See Also:
- Xiaomi 13 Ultra Review: Unveiling the Epitome of Technological Excellence
- Huawei’s Mate 60 Series: An Upcoming Lineup with Unspecified Number of Models


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Reston, VA (PRWEB) February 23, 2017
CargoSense, a Virginia-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that uses artificial intelligence to deliver logistics oversight to the pharmaceutical and electronics industries, today announced the recent hiring of Rhett Hunter as Chief Strategy Officer. Mr. Hunter recently served as Vice President, Strategy & Investor Relations at Alarm.com.
Prior to Alarm.com, Mr. Hunter spent nine years at T. Rowe Price as an equity analyst focused on the technology sector. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hunter sourced and executed early-stage technology investments at Advent International. Mr. Hunter also previously spearheaded business development efforts at Oryxa, a storage software startup acquired by EMC Corporation.
"We are thrilled to add Rhett Hunter to the team," said Rich Kilmer, CEO and Co-Founder of CargoSense. "With his strong financial, investment and business development experience - combined with his deep knowledge of the Internet of Things, Rhett’s leadership will be essential in helping us fuel our growth and innovation across the market."
“CargoSense is deploying IoT and logistics oversight technology that will fundamentally change how business decisions are made,” said Mr. Hunter. “The company’s software platform and performance database are highly differentiated and gaining traction in the market. I’m excited to help CargoSense scale up through its next stage of significant growth.”
Mr. Hunter holds an AB in Economics and Asian Studies from Bowdoin College and an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management.
CargoSense is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that provides robust logistics oversight for supply chain networks. Powered by advanced machine learning, CargoSense Shipment Segmentation delivers logistics professionals a discrete view of their product as it flows through a shipping lane. Customers can understand exactly when cargo was moved between the various shipping methods, how long it spent within each method, and how it was handled throughout. Founded by serial entrepreneurs with a history of building successful software services using agile languages and customer-focused design, the company is based in Reston, Virginia.


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Yet another Caribbean country is making strides in its pursuit of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). This time, it’s Jamaica, with the country’s central bank announcing recently that it had completed a CBDC pilot that it started eight months ago.
The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) announced in March 2021 that it was testing a prototype CBDC. As CoinGeek reported at the time, the central bank partnered with eCurrency Mint, an Irish company that has been exploring CBDCs since 2011, on the project.
In May, the BOJ announced that it was commencing an 8-month long pilot of its digital Jamaican dollar. This was followed by an August announcement that the bank had minted $230 million of its CBDC, which it made available to the public.
This pilot ended on December 31, and according to the BOJ, the pilot’s success was dependent on “whether a central bank digital currency along with the attendant technology solution could be successfully implemented in Jamaica.”
The bank minted the digital Jamaican dollar during the pilot and issued it to wallet providers. On August 9, the BOJ issued $1 million worth of the CBDC to its Banking Department to be distributed to staff. Later that month, it gave $5 million worth of the CBDC to the National Commercial Bank (NCB), the first time it had issued it to deposit-taking institutions.
Upon receiving the CBDC, the NCB onboarded 57 customers—four merchants and 53 consumers. These customers conducted cash-in and cash-out, and person-to-person transactions among themselves to test the CBDC. They also completed transactions with small merchants such as local craft jewelers and fashion designers through “Market on the Lawn,” an NCB-sponsored event in December.
With the successful pilot, the BOJ announced that it’s moving ahead with a national rollout in Q1 2022. The NCB will continue spearheading the onboarding of new clients, but the BOJ is already working with two additional financial institutions, which will also be allowed to create wallets and onboard new clients soon.
Jamaica is aiming to become the next country in the Caribbean to deploy its CBDC. Already, the Bahamas has issued its Sand Dollar CBDC, which is now in full circulation in the country.
Watch: CoinGeek New York presentation, Fabriik: The Future of Digital Assets and a Tokenized World
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.


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Honda wins top honour for fleet technology
Written by: Simon Pavey, Last updated:11th August 2020
Honda has received industry recognition for its commitment to developing the latest vehicle innovations at this year’s inaugural Great British Fleet event.
The manufacturer was named winner of the 2019 Fleet Technology Award at a gala awards ceremony held at London’s Hotel Novotel on January 24th.
Honda was recognised as continuing a long tradition of focusing on high-end technology to boost the appeal of its vehicles, both among the driving public and business users.
Standout technologies that buyers want
Fleet engagement manager at Honda Jacqueline Rowe commented: “We are passionate that for a Honda to be a Honda, it must be different to every other fleet vehicle on the road and this award demonstrates that this is very much the case.
“To be recognised by our peers for our commitment to technology and innovation is a real honour.”
The manufacturer’s Honda SENSING and Honda CONNECT systems were highlighted in particular as offering advanced safety and connectivity packages to help separate Honda from its rivals.
Fleet-specific services, including Honda’s new interactive whole lifecycle costs calculator, were also hailed as a deciding factor in this year’s judging.
Ellie Baker, brand manager at Fuel Card Services, comments: “Honda has picked up a well-deserved award for the company’s continuing commitment to delivering cutting-edge vehicles that incorporate the very latest technologies.”
Managing a commercial fleet is more challenging than ever. That’s why we have created a one-stop solution to deal with the never-ending list of problems you face. Look Closer at your fleet costs with My Fleet Hub.back


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Spotify’s IPO, Google’s open-source App toolkit, Uber Health, Netflix’s content expansion for 2018, Voice shopping growth, Why stratups fail & more.
Welcome to another week full of fresh ideas and innovation at el producto!
📰 What’s going on
Spotify officially filed for a $1B IPO; the company reported $4.99B in revenue in 2017, up from $3.6B in 2016, though it also reported greater losses: it lost $1.5B in 2017, more than double the year prior. Spotify further reported that its paid subscribers grew at a rate of 46% YoY, reaching 159M monthly users, 71M of whom pay for a premium subscription.
GitHub suffers largest DDoS attack ever recorded at 1.35Tbps of traffic; the attacker(s) used memcached servers rather than a botnet; the technique is known as an amplification attack; GitHub experienced outages before DDoS mitigation service Akamai Prolexic diverted traffic to scrubbing centers, where legitimate traffic was forwarded to GitHub.
Google launches Learn with Google AI: an educational resource for developers seeking to advance their AI and machine learning skills; includes the free Machine Learning Crash Course; more than 18k people have enrolled in the course so far.
Google launches open-source toolkit to build Android and iOS apps; Flutter (in beta) supports stateful hot reloads, meaning a developer can update source code and see changes reflected on a mobile device almost instantly; the Dart language-focused toolkit also supports updating an existing app with Flutter features without having to recreate the entire app.
Facebook rolls out Messenger 2.3 with more features for businesses; the site plugin now features a setup tool and firms can adjust the color of the Messenger icon on their website; businesses can also customize greeting text, and a quick reply tool lets customers auto-populate a message with their email or phone number; Messenger also includes new metrics tools.
Facebook ends “Explore” feed test, which saw posts from publishers and brands moved from News Feed to a dedicated tab; the company launched the test in six countries last fall; Facebook surveyed users in the test group and found that, overall, people preferred all news items in a single feed.
Twitter launches Bookmarks; provides an alternative to the Favorite feature, which indicates positive sentiment about a tweet; unlike the Favorite feature, bookmarking a tweet does not notify the tweet author.
Microsoft launches Soundscape, an iOS app that offers 3D audio maps; aimed at those with vision impairment, notifies users of street names, nearby stores, and other places of interest.
Uber launches Uber Health, lets health providers book rides for patients; a healthcare worker can arrange a journey to or from a clinic or hospital, even if the patient isn’t an Uber user; patients receive SMS updates.
Apple enables snowboarding and skiing tracking for Watch Series 3 apps; multiple snow sports apps have updated to take advantage of the new capabilities; snow workouts can count toward Activity rings; some apps track calories burned, as reflected in the Activity app.
Apple plans to launch an iPhone with a 6.5-inch edge-to-edge display this year; will utilize an OLED display with resolution similar to that of the iPhone X; Apple also plans a successor the iPhone X and a more affordable model; all will feature Face ID.
Apple uses Google Cloud to store iCloud user data; Apple’s iOS security guide previously disclosed that Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS were used for iCloud storage; the most recent version excludes Azure and adds Google.
Apple hands over operation of its Chinese iCloud servers. The iPhone maker is partnering with Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, owned by the provincial government, to comply with strict new rules for foreign tech companies.
Netflix signs a partnership with pay TV Sky; Sky will include Netflix content alongside programming from HBO and others as part of its Sky Q platform; the service will launch in the UK and Ireland later this year with more countries to follow. Sky Q will also add Spotify this spring.
YouTube updates its Live service with real-time automated English captioning; users can also now play back chats after a live stream has ended; new geo-tagging feature enables users to browse feeds nearby.
Amazon plans to open 6 more cashierless Amazon Go stores this year. Likely in Seattle and LA.
Amazon expanding his connected home presence with the acquisition of video doorbell company Ring (for estimated $1b); last month, Ring acquired wireless LED lighting company Mr. Beams.
Spanish mobile operator Telefonica launches Aura, its new voice-activated, AI-powered assistant; will run via a branded app in Argentina, Brazil, and Britain; through Telefonica’s pay-TV platform in Spain; and on Facebook Messenger in Chile and Germany; will integrate with Google Assistant soon and Microsoft’s Cortana in 2019.
Dropbox announces native integration with Google’s G Suite; more than half of Dropbox users have a G Suite account.
Ford is preparing an autonomous ride-share and delivery service in Miami; ride-share and delivery fleets will operate separately during the pilot phase but vehicles might perform double duty at a later time; Ford has partnered with Domino’s and Postmates for delivery, and Lyft for rides.
The California DMV approves testing of fully driverless vehicles on public roads; will no longer require a safety driver, but cars will have to be monitored by a remote operator who can take over at a moment’s notice; the new rules go into effect in April.
Autonomous driving tech company Pony.ai launches a self-driving ride-share service in China; it is the first such service publicly available in the country; initially limited to transporting passengers to and from the Nansha municipal government building.
Samsung open pre-orders for Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus; begin shipping mid-March; both feature Super AMOLED screens and are available in blue, black, or purple. Their cameras are equipped with AR Emoji and Super slo-mo features.
Samsung announces DeX Pad which enables Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus to function as a desktop computer; the device connects to an external monitor and runs a full desktop environment; the smartphone’s display serves as a touchpad and will eventually include touch-keyboard support.
🎰 The week in figures
Netflix plans to have about 700 original movies and shows available in 2018, 80 of which will be international programming; Netflix earmarked $8B for this year’s original content. Netflix spent $6.3B on original and acquired programming in 2017; compares with Amazon ($4.5B), and Hulu ($2.5B); Apple and Facebook both spent about $1B each last year.
The US shop-by-voice market will grow from the current annual $2B to $40B by 2022, according to a survey of smart speaker owners by OC&C Strategy Consultants; Juniper Research estimates that 55% of US households will own a smart speaker within the next four years; currently, grocery shopping represents 20% of all US voice shopping
Google has been asked to delist 2.4M URLs since European “right to be forgotten” laws were implemented in 2014; the company has removed 43% of links, and has received more than 650k individual requests; top 1k requesters were responsible for the delisting of almost 21% of URLs.
📚 Stuff to think about
Studies show that ride-hailing companies are making city streets more congested. Will Uber and Lyft bring the opposite of what they preach?
The Art of the lazy Product Manager. Parul Singh argues that high growth startups need to build less, not more. Check her 10 principals to tackle a fast paced developement / delivery environment in a more strategic way.
Why startups fail? CB Insights looks at 101 startup postmortems.


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They call it the Richie Rich Club, and it is about to get even richer. India's wealthiest will quadruple their net worth in the next four years, a report says, with hundreds of thousands of new entrepreneurs and inheritors becoming multimillionaires.
The survey, based on interviews with 150 ultra-high net worth individuals, comes amid signs of returning business confidence in the world's biggest democracy.
Recent years have seen lacklustre growth, rising prices of basic foodstuffs and a weakening currency. But the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won a landslide victory in May on a pledge to reinvigorate the ailing economy.
Despite the slowdown, there are now nearly a sixth more Indians worth in excess of $3.75m (£2.2m) than just one year ago, the report for the Kotak Mahindra bank notes.
"Cities are mushrooming, the middle class population growing, opportunities have increased manyfold and the political environment has improved greatly in recent months," according to Murali Balaraman, a co-author.
Between them India's rich hold assets worth a trillion dollars, which is around a fifth of the total wealth in the country. Within four years, that total is likely to reach $4tn (£2.3tn), the report says, making three times as many people multimillionaires.
Serving the new rich – and the old money – is a booming luxury market.
"They really want to show or talk about their wealth in a really subtle way, and consumption of luxury goods is a nice way to do it," Balaraman said.
Abhay Gupta, the CEO of brand consultancy Luxury Connect, said the market for top end goods and experiences would "only get bigger".
"There is a huge aspirational class who look up to what the very wealthy are doing and then copy it," he said.
Cars are among the most popular items bought, the report says. Whereas five years ago locally made SUVs were shown off by the wealthy, now only foreign cars will turn heads. Mercedes saw a 47% surge in sales in India last year. BMW launched a new $200,000 (£117,700) model in Delhi this week.
India's appalling infrastructure restricts demand, however. Lamborghini's chief executive, Stephan Winkelmann, admitted last year that the traffic and roads in India "are not so suitable" for the $450,000 (£265,000) sports cars. In India, Lamborghini sells two models: the Gallardo and the Aventador, which has a top speed of 217mph.
Winkelmann said Lamborghini's Indian customers were much younger than those in Europe, with a typical buyer being in his 30s. However, the most popular investments remain real estate – mainly within India – and jewellery.
India's super-rich have long raised eyebrows around the world with their spectacular spending. Mukesh Ambani, the country's wealthiest man, has built the world's most valuable home in Mumbai, the commercial capital.
The 27-storey tower, complete with helicopter pads, indoor cinemas and a staff of more than 600, is worth an estimated $1bn (£500m).
The three-day wedding of the niece of Lakshmi Mittal, the UK-based steel tycoon who is worth an estimated $16bn (£9.4bn), was reported to have cost $80m (£47m). Hundreds of guests were flown to Barcelona for the ceremony and party, which took place in a museum in the city.
But buyers of luxury goods searching for the psychological satisfaction of exclusivity are becoming increasingly demanding, the Kotak Mahindra report says. One ordered nine cases of Japanese whisky costing over $750 (£440) a bottle for a wedding reception.
The attraction of the imported whisky was that no one who attended the wedding would find out how to source the same drink in India, the report adds.
Another big spender systematically bought identical pairs of Louis Vuitton bags, then cut up half of them to make clothes that would match her accessories.
Even the traditional wedding is evolving fast. Presents such as silver plates, dried fruit or sweets once sent with wedding invitations are being replaced by gifts by top western designer brands.
"These days it's Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags," says Gupta.
Almost half new ultra high net worth individuals live in smaller provincial cities.
A high proportion give substantial amounts to charity, though the report notes that the "growth of philanthropic spends in India has not been proportional to overall growth in ultra high net worth individual wealth".
Co-author Balaraman says that growth in the number of rich people would not result in social tensions as a wide gap in incomes and wealth is an "accepted norm" in India.
"People know that someone is rich and someone is poor and they carry on with their lives," he explains.


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Earlier this year, in response to the pandemic, Hilton rolled out a CleanStay program, developed in partnership with RB — the manufacturer of Lysol — and the Mayo Clinic’s Infection and Prevention and Control Team. The program provided a set of sanitation protocols and cleanliness standards for everything from guest rooms to F&B to public areas.
But over the last months, it’s became clear that Hilton’s meeting planner customers were looking to the hotel chain for far more than just guarantees of cleanliness, said Frank Passanante, SVP Hilton Worldwide Sales – Americas. “They were looking,” Passanante said, “for guidance and leadership for the whole event experience.”
Today, Hilton is unveiling a second phase of the initiative, Hilton EventReady with CleanStay, based on a series of think tanks, and research and consultation with its customers and other experts. The initiative is a comprehensive program that “addresses all of the issues of the day,” Passanante said.
In addition to expanded sanitation cleanliness standards that apply to the entire meeting experience, the program also takes into account the uncertainty that meeting planners face around travel restrictions and safety issues related to the pandemic, he added. The program offers “Book-to-Billing Flexibility,” giving planners flexible pricing and simplified contracting.
As part of the program, Hilton also will be supplying meeting planner customers with a 300-page “EventReady Playbook,” designed to help them plan safe and socially responsible events, he said. Among it highlights will be:
- Room sets developed with sanitation protocols and social responsibility guidelines in mind, including classroom-style and theater-style meeting rooms, coffee breaks, and F&B.
- Hybrid events guidelines for combining one or more in-person events with a virtual component, connecting audiences from around the world — or even in different rooms.
- Creative networking ideas on how to network while maintaining physical distancing, such as progressive meals that use more than one meeting space; food truck outdoor events; and projection mapping, directing attendees to various stations.


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The Loudoun County government is reaching out to members of the community who will be impacted by the closing of the Walmart store on Edwards Ferry Road in Leesburg, which is expected to occur on May 21, 2019. A new Walmart store is opening May 22, 2019, on Compass Creek Parkway, about four miles from the Edwards Ferry Road location.
The current Walmart store is located in the same shopping center as the county’s Shenandoah Building, which is home to some of the county’s human services agencies. Many of the agencies’ clients rely on the store for food, pharmacy services, clothing and other necessities. Additionally, many residents in the immediate vicinity rely on the proximity of the Walmart because their transportation options are limited to walking and public transportation.
The county is providing resources, available in English and Spanish, to raise awareness about the change and to help residents identify their options for shopping and transportation.
View, print or download these flyers:
The county is also reminding residents not to cross Route 15 by foot and to use the Leesburg Safe-T-Ride, a free shuttle providing continuous service between locations on the east and west sides of Route 15. The Safe-T-Ride operates seven days a week: Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
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Reportedly, the ECB is analyzing the possibility of the change of the current inflation target of "below but close to 2%". It weakened the EUR
Digital coins are mixed
On Thursday, digital currencies showed mixed performance, with slight price movements in both directions.
Investors took another shot at cryptocurrencies. An international banking watchdog, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision drew attention to the threat that digital coins pose to financial institutions as well as financial stability. By the way, the BCBS turns out to be a committee of banking supervisory authorities underpinned by the Bank for International Settlements, with up to 60 of the world’s key financial institutions as members.
As the BCBS told, the ongoing surge of crypto-asset trading platforms along with new financial products related to digital coins has the potential to lift financial stability worries and spur risks faced by banks. He added that digital coins have failed to provide the standard functions of money. What’s more, from his point of view, they aren’t safe to rely on as a store of value or medium of exchange.
However, digital coins didn’t react much to that warning.
Bitcoin headed south by 0.08%% in Asia coming up with $3,873.1. As for Ethereum, it went down by about 0.48% showing $132.15. Litecoin dived by 0.40% hitting $55.91. Besides this, XRP rallied by nearly 1.24% reaching $0.31397.
Crypto enthusiasts also noted Russia’s adoption of fresh digital rights legislation that this country’s legislative body approved in October. The fresh legislation determines how digital rights should be exercised and transferred. Moreover, it formulates rules for digital transactions, in particular, contracts.
Vyacheslav Volodin, State Duma Chairman told that the digital rights law creates the foundation for the development of the Russian digital economy.
In general, Russia is rapidly embracing crypto solutions. It’s believed that a crypto bill is going to be approved by the end of March. Moreover, Russia’s leader has ordered that crypto regulations come into effect by July.
In July, Britain's inflation rate rallied for the first time in 2018, thus leaving many UK households feeling quite squeezed by prices, soaring at nearly the same tempo as their wages…
On Friday, the evergreen buck rallied versus its counterparts after data disclosed that the American economy generated more jobs than anticipated In October, thus backing the Fed’s case to proceed with gradual rate lifts…
On Tuesday, gold rallied because uncertainty over the latest developments in Britain’s departure from the EU backed safe haven demand and traders looked ahead for American inflation data to underpin the Fed’s pledge to remain on hold…


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The PlayStation 4 Gold wireless headset now comes in White in addition to the standard color. It's available to order for $96.99 at Amazon right now and Sony has announced its availability in other countries too, such as the UK and Canada.
You might not think of a White headset as matching your current PlayStation setup, but we have been seeing a lot more color variety come out of Sony recently with special editions like the Amazing Red Spider-Man PS4 and the translucent dark blue console. A white headset just opens the door for even more color variety.
These headsets have features you can only get when using them with a PlayStation 4 and the headset's companion app, including an audio mode that helps you experience the audio of the game the way the developers intended.
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
It's time to stop using SMS for two-factor authentication
Not all 2FA is equal. Using SMS to get a code might not be "better than nothing" after all.
Fresh Surface Duo renders are here, reportedly coming to AT&T
Microsoft hasn't exactly been camera shy with the Surface Duo, but a new set of renders have leaked that offer an even closer look at the device. Alongside the leaked images, the leaker says Duo will be headed to AT&T in the U.S.
24 hours with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: Big, beautiful, and backwards
It's still too early to give any conclusive thoughts on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, but Samsung's latest flagship is already proving to be a tremendous phone in more ways than one.
Protect your new, huge Note 20 with one of these cases
The Note 20 may not have a glass back, but that doesn't mean you should let to go around in the chaotic world outside naked. Get a good case and protect your new Note 20 in style!


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The expected explosion in telecom penetration and increasing popularity of smartphones would help telecom companies earn an additional $8 billion .
Of the four, media content and services alone has the potential to generate $6 billion in additional data and content revenues.
With the Indian online market set to explode, telecom companies stand to generate an additional revenue of $8 billion and EBITDA of $2.9 billion .
The company expects revenue to grow to 80 billion Indian rupees ($1.32 billion) in the year ending March 2015 from 45 billion Indian rupees a year earlier.
The report which Google India released along with partner AT Kearney said that the data consumption on mobiles is expected to triple by 2017.
Shopping through mobile phones, which grew 800% in 2013, is expected to clock a CAGR of 150% till 2016. Bolstering this is a recent AT Kearney and Google study.
Last year IIM Calcutta students received 112 PPOs in total by the end of the year. The institute is expecting that number to be surpassed this year.
The app already has about 500 Sherpas from eight cities and 100 experiences like Delhi momo trail and shopping through Chandini Chowk.


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Forget Self-Driving Cars. Self-Driving Chairs Have Arrived
In recent weeks, Uber launched autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, Tesla updated its autopilot software and researchers in Amsterdam announced an initiative to explore driverless boats. And now, Nissan offers the world self-driving chairs.
The Japanese automaker unveiled a high-tech, battery-powered autonomous chair it says is designed to make waiting in line "easy and fun." The ProPilot chair transports passengers along fixed paths without any instruction from the user.
The ProPilot chair "drives" on a predetermined path. The chair's embedded cameras detect distance to the chair ahead of it. When one chair moves, the next one follows, maintaining a fixed distance. When the passenger reaches the front of the line and stands up, a weight sensor notices and the chair automatically navigates to the back of the line, Nissan says.
Nissan's promotional video demonstrates the ProPilot chairs queueing customers outside of a busy restaurant, scooting patrons through a museum, and carrying a group of comfortably seated passengers on a lazy turn around a park.
Reactions on social media thus far range from somewhat enthusiastic to apathetic, with some Twitter users drawing comparisons to the laziness-enabling floating lounge chairs from the Disney-Pixar movie Wall-E.
However, for Nissan, the chair offers a chance to show off technology used by its newest line of semi-autonomous minivans.
Nissan first ventured into the world of autonomous chairs earlier this year by adapting its intelligent park assist technology into an "Intelligent Parking Chair." Designed to eliminate the tedious task of arranging office chairs, these clever chairs roll themselves to predetermined positions in response to hand clapping.
Technology designed to make the wait in line and visiting museums easier could provide benefits in places with aging populations, such as Japan.
Nissan has encouraged restaurants across Japan to apply to test the ProPilot chair and promises that the selected restaurants will have ProPilot chairs shuffling patrons through queues next year.
So when your knees start to ache from standing in that endless brunch line this Sunday, have confidence that soon you may be able to sit back, relax, and let a chair do the legwork.
Maria Hollenhorst is an NPR business desk intern.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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PV Sindhu, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist, is the brand ambassador of Panasonic Energy India, one of India's leading manufacturer and supplier of dry cell batteries and lighting products. The 21-year-old, ace badminton player has been signed on for Panasonic’s battery division for the next three years as a part of strategic decision to enrich the brand image and challenge the 'numero uno' position.
“I have always admired Panasonic products and now to partner with such a premium brand, is an amazing honour. Panasonic batteries have always been known for its performance and reliability. I am looking forward to carry forth this communication and be a part of the growth journey," said PV Sindhu.
M. Morikawa, chairman and managing director, Panasonic Energy, said, “PV Sindhu seemed a natural extension to Panasonic Batteries. Both are best known for their consistency and are aggressively growing to clinch the numero uno position. 2017, marks our 45th year in India and on this eventful occasion it gives me immense pleasure to have Ms. Sindhu as the brand ambassador. With this partnership, we aim to further strengthen our brand image and connect better with our customers.”


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Japan Airlines has launched a new award ticket promotion for economy-class travel in Asia between April 1 – July 13, 2023.
JMB members save 30% off these awards if they book by March 31.
You can access this offer on JAL’s website here.
JAL has excluded its Bangkok route from this economy award promotion, which likely has consistent demand throughout the year.
Unfortunately, the discount only applies to economy class, as business is not included.


text: South Korea\'s imports of fishery products from the U.S. have jumped since the implementation of the free trade agreement with the world\'s largest economy, data showed Thursday. After years of hard negotiations and ratification procedures, the free trade agreement, dubbed the \"KORUS FTA,\" went into effect on March 15 last year, following a similar deal with the European Union that took effect in July 2011. According to the data compiled by the Korea Maritime Institute, South Korea imported fishery and other marine products worth US$171 million between March 2012 and January 2013, up 15.5 percent from a year earlier. In contrast, South Korea\'s exports of fishery products to the U.S. reached $163 million, down 1.64 percent from a year earlier, the data showed. The data also showed that Seoul\'s imports of pollack surged 28 percent during the cited period to reach $44 million, with those of sardines surging four-fold to $2 million. But imports of codfish and monkfish dropped 13.4 percent and 8 percent, respectively, to reach $7.2 million and $12 million, according to the data. South Korea\'s exports of dried laver to the U.S. soared 36 percent to $48 million over the cited period, and shipments of red queen crab to the U.S. also jumped five-fold to reach $5.5 million, according to the data. The institute said exports of fishery goods to the U.S. may further increase as the U.S. lifted restrictions on oysters imported from South Korea early this month. South Korea\'s exports of oysters to the U.S. were suspended between May last year and February this year as norovirus was found in the fishery product.


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The Hartford Mutual Funds has announced that, effective July 1, permanent mutual fund expense reductions have taken effect on 36 funds. The change affects institutional and retirement share classes, as well as the retail share classes of six funds.
Keith Sloane, senior vice president of the Hartford Mutual Funds, said in a statement, “We’re seeing high demand for these products and we want to keep that momentum going. Strong-performing funds like Value, Fundamental Growth, and International Opportunities were specifically targeted for significant expense reductions to be more competitive in their Morningstar categories.”
Net operating expenses have dropped up to 30 basis points for the following funds’ institutional, retirement, and retail share classes:
? The Hartford Diversified International Fund2
? The Hartford Fundamental Growth Fund3
? The Hartford Global Research Fund2
? The Hartford International Growth Fund4


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Google adds 'Differential Snapshots' to cloud storage
Limps after Amazon with cut-price backup tech
There are only so many ways you can build a gigantic infrastructure cloud, so it is with little surprise that Google has introduced a snapshot feature already found in Amazon Web Services.
The "Differential Snapshots" feature was announced by Google in a post to the Google Compute Engine Google group on Monday, and the Chocolate Factory predicts it will cut the storage demands of backing up cloud instances hosted on Google's infrastructure-as-a-service.
The tech lets Google cloud wranglers create backups of persistent disks which contain only the data that has changed since the last snapshot.
This feature has been available in Amazon's Elastic Block Storage system for several years, though given the major outages caused by EBS problems, Google's Persistent Disks may have more inherent availability.
The "differential snapshots" mean admins can look forward to "faster snapshot times, lowered storage usage, and lower costs," Google said.
Potential uses of the technology include backing up data, recreating persistent disks that have been lost, or copying existing disks.
But things get a little complicated if admins want to delete some of their differential snapshots due to the nested, referential architecture of the system.
For instance, if I have created a snapshot of Disk A (call it snapshot 1), then create a further snapshot of that (snapshot 2), and one more that references that (snapshot 3), then deleting snapshot 2 will move blocks that were unique to it up to snapshot 3, enlarging that one's size.
Google says in its documentation that it should automatically optimise the data contents of each snapshot to avoid unnecessary duplication.
Meanwhile, Microsoft documentation indicates that the feature is unavailable for now within Windows Azure. ®


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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The November contract price of ethylene in Europe was agreed by EUR90/tonne lower compared to October. Nevertheless, despite such a major fall in feedstock prices, European producers intend to limit the decrease in export polyethylene (PE) prices for the CIS countries by EUR20-60/tonne, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.
A slump in oil prices has led to a similar fall in the prices of refined oil products. Thus, the November contract price of ethylene in Europe was agreed by EUR90/tonne below the October level. In their turn, European producers said they had a strong demand from the domestic market and restricted export quota. Therefore, they do not intend to reduce PE prices proportionally to the cuts in ethylene prices.
The import duty on PE for producers from the Gulf countries and Brazil was raised to 6.5% from 1 January 2014 , leading to lower imports to Europe. The weakening of the euro in recent months has made imports even more unprofitable. And European producers managed to completely balance the market by reducing their capacity utilisation.
Low capacity utilisation and strong demand from the domestic market for several months were the cause of limited export quotas of European producers, particularly, for low density polyethylene (LDPE) and pipe grade high density polyethylene (HDPE).
Nnegotiations over November export prices of European PE began this week. Deals for HDPE were negotiated in the range of EUR1,160-1,200/tonne FCA, down by EUR20-40/tonne from October. Deals for LDPE were negotiated in the range of EUR1,200-1,260/tonne FCA, down by EUR40-60/tonne from October.


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Events are bouncing back at the Yorkshire Event Centre with a number of new signings – all coming to Harrogate for the first time.
The Great Taste Golden Fork Reception will be held at the YEC this month; the first time it has ever been held outside London. All Great Taste 3-star award-winning products have been re-judged to find this year’s regional Golden Fork Trophy winners and the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2021. These final results will be announced at the Great Taste Golden Fork Reception on Sunday 17 October, at the Yorkshire Event Centre following the first day of Fine Food Show North, a trade-only exhibition organised by the Guild of Fine Food.
The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) are working with UK events company First Event to bring the international ‘All Industry Conference’ to the YEC on Friday November 5th and Saturday 6th. This will be the first time the event has been held in the UK in 30 years. The event, which brings together companies supplying building materials to the construction industry, will focus on sustainable building with an exhibition of the products and systems that will make our homes more energy efficient and reduce their carbon footprint.
The Great Yorkshire Christmas Fair will be in Hall 1 of the YEC for the first time ever after relocating from Ripley Castle. The popular show promises to be bigger and better than ever with a range of unusual, artisan Christmas gifts by local businesses and entrepreneurs. From sensational festive decorations to wow factor wreaths and stunning stocking fillers, there promises to be something for every generation at the show running from Thursday December 2nd to Sunday 5th.
And the YEC will host one of the biggest caravan, motorhome and holiday home expos in the UK for the first time in September next year. The event will be split into two events with the public able to see and order the latest models from Friday 2nd September to Sunday 4th September 2022. This will be followed by the trade-only show from Tuesday 6th September to Thursday 8th September when manufacturers will showcase their latest holiday homes, motorhomes and caravans to holiday parks, dealers and distributors from around the world.
Heather Parry, managing director of the YEC, said that securing new events as well as welcoming back regular events, was very positive for the industry and for the Harrogate area as it brings new visitors into the county.
“We are absolutely delighted to be bringing new business to Harrogate and to Yorkshire, with a number of new events signing up with us for the first time. It’s truly wonderful to be back doing what we do best after a tough 18 months.
“We are looking forward to bouncing back, bigger, better and stronger than ever. We have 250 acres of outdoor space to offer event organisers and we can host large scale indoor events in our event halls in the Yorkshire Event Centre, which are complimented by 14 conference, wedding and dinner rooms at the Pavilions of Harrogate.”
In 2019, businesses and events held at the Great Yorkshire Showground contributed £73.7 million to the economy. It supported 688 full time equivalent jobs and attracted more than half a million visitors and exhibitors, according to independent research carried out by the Pegasus Group.
When the Covid pandemic struck, the business adapted and the Yorkshire Event Centre was proud to work with the NHS during this period and to become a vaccination hub. During that time, 64,000 first doses and 62,000 second doses were administered at the site.
The Great Yorkshire Show was the first large scale event to be held onsite in July after organisers worked closely with North Yorkshire County Council Public Health and Harrogate Borough Council to ensure the event met strict criteria to go ahead safely.
The Pavilions of Harrogate has had the busiest August ever with a myriad of events and bookings are strong for 2022, with figures ahead of what they were at the same time in 2019.
The Showground’s onsite farm shop and café, Fodder has responded to support customers in different ways during lockdowns and thus the customer base has increased as more people seek to buy local and eat the best. Adjacent to Fodder, the Harrogate Caravan Park is having a bumper year as staycations have increased.
The Association arm of the business has doubled during the pandemic as the team continued to manage the Farm Retail Association and won the tender to manage the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, creating a new income stream. The membership organisation has 320 members nationally and hosts an annual competition to find the best grower among its members with the winner providing the Christmas Tree for No10 Downing Street.
The profits from all these activities are gift aided to the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to help fund their charitable aims.
- Fine Food Show North 2021 – Sunday 17th & Monday 18th October: YEC
- Stamperama – Saturday 23rd October: YEC
- Indoor Funfair – Sunday 24th to Sunday 31st October: YEC
- Beadwork Fair – Sunday 24th October: Pavilions
- Decorative, Antiques and Art Sale – Friday 29th October to Sunday 31st: Pavilions
- Boden Clothing Sale -Wednesday 3rd November & Thursday 4th: Pavilions
- Children and Crime Book Fair – Saturday 13th November: Pavilions
- PBFA Book Fair – Saturday 13th November: Pavilions
- Rock, Gem N Bead Show – Saturday 27th November & Sunday 28th: Pavilions
- The Great Yorkshire Christmas Fair – Thursday December 2nd to Sunday 5th YEC


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Online/offline youth marketer Alloy
is contining its acquisitive ways with a $15.6 million cash purchase of Off Campus Marketing, a direct marketing firm owned by youth-focused company Student Advantage.
The New York-based Alloy, which in the past few years has acquired high school and college marketer 360 Youth, BMX biking site Dan’s Competition and college focused marketer CASS Communications, is making yet another move to gather up marketing outfits that target the generation Y crowd.
The purchase of OCM Direct’s assets and liabilities is expected to help Alloy build online and offline efforts to market products and services to the college and youth market.
OCM Direct (“On-Campus Marketing”) specializes in helping to sell products such as residence hall linens, care packages and diploma frames to college-age students and their parents.
Matt Diamond, Alloy’s chairman and CEO, said the business would be an outstanding complement to Alloy’s extensive on-campus marketing activities. He also said the final purchase price allocation is not expected to change the company’s earnings guidance for 2003.
A class action lawsuit against an internet-connected pleasure device highlights the potential pitfalls a growing number of companies will face as they embrace ... read more
Google sparked a small firestorm last week as reports surfaced that its intelligent assistant device Google Home delivered an unsolicited advertisement to unsuspecting owners.
According to Internet Retailer's newly released The Best Digital Marketers in E-Commerce report, Target is the most effective marketer in online retail. So why is it struggling overall?
The rise of YouTube and digital video generally has a lot to do with the rise of the internet and the abundance of digital video content. But YouTube's ascendency is also the result of Google's savvy use of algorithms.


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Baby it’s NOT cold outside! Victoria’s Secret model Martha Hunt turns up the heat in Miami with red bikini to celebrate Christmas season
In the modeling industry, she has one of the best bodi’es. And on Friday, when the leggy catwalk walked the beach in Miami in nothing more than a skimpy red bikini and a pair of sunglasses, Martha Hunt made it seem like she wanted to remind everyone of that.
The 27-year-old North Carolina native made a big splash at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Paris with Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, where Lady Gaga performed, just a few days prior to this sighting.
Taylor Hill and Elsa Hosk, a friend of Alessandra Ambrosio, wore a tight two-piece with spaghetti straps on the top and cutouts on the bottom, showing off their toned bodies.
Atypical for an ocean dip, the Dolce & Gabbana model also appeared to be wearing a soft red lipstick. A photographer in Charlotte, North Carolina, came across Hunt and introduced her to agencies in New York. She moved there and became a model for IMG.
She walked for Issey Miyake on the Paris Fashion Week runway for the first time in 2007. She was featured on the covers of GQ, Revue des Modes, V, Glamour Germany, and Muse in 2009, in addition to Vogue China and Harper’s Bazaar.
She has walked for Wayne, Rebecca Taylor, Tracy Reese, and J. Mendel. The stunning model was then selected to participate in the prestigious Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Since 2013, she has walked in the show.[Disclaimer: This news has been made on the basis of information received from the website. NewsKosh does not confirm this from its side.]


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Car Batteries Lagging Behind Fast Car Chargers
【Summary】Automakers may finally be packing more range into electric vehicles, but battery technology in cars is still well behind what modern fast chargers are capable of.
The rate at which electric vehicles continue to progress is staggering. The modern crop of EVs have more range than ever before, can recharge in less time than ever before, and are genuine alternatives to gas-powered cars. It's safe to say that current electric cars are better than they've ever been. But if there's one area where EVs continue to struggle, it's in charge times. And with the introduction of fast chargers, the blame solely lies with EVs.
How Charging Has Become A Priority
Take a quick peek at the Chevrolet Bolt's charging specs. The electric hatchback has a range of 238 miles, which is excellent. If you were to drain the battery and plug into an 120-volt outlet, you're looking at roughly 60 hours of charging. Plug into a Level 2 (240-volt) charger, and those times are improved drastically to 9.5 hours. That's still a long, long time, but much better than two and a half days. If you happen to find a fast charger, you can get 90 miles back in 30 minutes. That's the best possible outcome, but it still doesn't match filling up a gas car, which takes what, maybe five minutes tops.
More and more automakers are looking into fast chargers, but it doesn't really matter if batteries in cars can't handle being charged rapidly. Range anxiety may have disappeared, but extremely long charge times has now become the negative focal point.
"It's about impacting that buying decision in the dealership," David Finn, chief executive officer of Tritium Pty, an Australian supplier of high-power chargers, told The Detroit News. "The main reason you own a car is for the freedom to do whatever you want, whatever you feel like it. That will always be playing on your mind if you have a slow charger."
The outlet claims that EVgo Services LLC rates a slow-speed public charger gives EVs a range of roughly 20 miles every hour. On average, a fast charger is capable of providing 75 miles of range in 30 minutes. The latest generation of super fast chargers, like Tritium's that's used in solar-car racing, is capable of 215 miles in 10 minutes.
Are Charge Times Improving?
Various companies, including Volkswagen's Electrify America, Tesla, and Ionity are all looking into putting super-fast chargers on public roads. But those are still some time off. The Detroit News claims that Volkswagen's super chargers are another 20 years off, but the electric arm has started to come out with 350-kW chargers in California.
Being able to fully charge your electric car in a similar timeframe as a gasoline car is still off in the distance, but it's important to point out that automakers are drastically improving. The recently released Audi e-tron, for instance, is capable of getting 80 percent of its charge in just 30 minutes. Hooking one of Tesla's Model X SUVs onto the brand's superchargers brings 70 percent of total charge in just 30 minutes.
EVs are catching up to superchargers and will, eventually, bring excessively long charge times down to a reasonable level. But just like EVs have progressed, charging will slowly improve, too.
Vineeth Joel Patel
Joel Patel has been covering all aspects of the automotive industry for four years as an editor and freelance writer for various websites. When it comes to cars, he enjoys covering the merger between technology and cars. In his spare time, Joel likes to watch baseball, work on his car, and try new foods
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Rivian, Mercedes-Benz Partner to Produce Electric Commercial Vans
- Tesla Vehicles Operating in Autopilot Mode Involved in 273 Crashes in Under a Year, the NHTSA Reports
- Tesla's Battery Supplier CATL Unveils its New ‘Qilin’ Battery That Can Deliver 600+ Miles of Range to EVs
- Facing Rising Production Costs, Automakers Ford, GM, Stellantis and Toyota Urge Congress to Lift the Cap on the $7,500 EV Tax Credit
- GM Expanding First Responder Training Program for EV Crashes
- Electric Truck Maker Rivian Opens the First Fast Chargers in Colorado for its Nationwide ‘Adventure Network’
- Apple Reveals the Next-Gen Version of CarPlay, Which Takes Over a Vehicle’s Entire Dashboard and Screens
- BorgWarner Invests $500 Million in Wolfspeed Inc, a Developer of Semiconductors and Silicon Carbide Devices for Electric Vehicles
- China’s Baidu Reveals the Apollo RT6, a Fully Autonomous, Production Ready Level-4 Robotaxi with Removable Steering Wheel
- Audi Hits EV Startup NIO With a Trademark Lawsuit Over its Vehicle Naming
- Automakers Urge Consumers to Buy an EV Before Tax Credit Changes


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The government’s Cash for Clunkers program, which has recently come under fire for costing taxpayers an estimated $24,000 per vehicle sold, is credited with helping lift Ford’s numbers — along with a smart “reduced cost structure” strategy. In addition, the company did not take any government bailout money. And it probably bears mentioning that Ford is the only large U.S. automaker that hasn’t filed for bankruptcy this year.
John Lutman, general manager at Koons Ford of Annapolis, says many customers like the fact that Ford “didn’t take any money” from the government. He says customers are also drawn to Ford’s “great fuel efficiency” and expects that the positive profit news will only increase awareness of Ford vehicles, hopefully drawing more people into showrooms. Lutman says that customers in his showroom are especially excited about the redesigned Ford Taurus model, which sports new EcoBoost technology. EcoBoost is a "Ford technology that reduces emissions and increases power with lower displacement via turboboosting and direct gasoline injection," according to Jalopnik. When asked if he thought the positive earnings report would directly boost Ford sales, Lutman didn't say.
It is worth noting, however, that we recently reported on how Ford is benefitting from a strong brand presence. Experian Automotive came out with its list of the 10 vehicles with the strongest brand loyalty; six of them were Fords.
Here’s to a nice quarter, Ford! That 41 mpg Hybrid version of the 2010 Ford Fusion doesn’t look bad either.
—For the best rates on loans, bank accounts and credit cards, enter your ZIP code at BankingMyWay.com.


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Target: David Danielson, U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Goal: Hold solar panel manufacturers accountable for sacrifices in quality and resulting defects
In the race to find renewable energy sources for our planet, solar energy and solar panels have been a front runner for many years. For businesses, solar panels offer massive savings on energy costs – solar energy provider Brite Idea Energy reported business owners saving between 50% and 90% simply by installing solar panels and watching the energy bills drop. The same applies on a smaller scale for homeowners, and both can enjoy the benefits of the tax-free added value to a physical building. One thing seems to be sure: solar panels have an established place in the future of energy production. But amidst all this excitement, a serious flaw has been discovered in solar panels – reliability.
The New York Times recently published a story revealing that businesses around the world are experiencing problems with their solar panels. Homeowners, testing labs, and solar panel insurers are reporting the same thing. The Times reported that solar panels covering a large warehouse roof in Los Angeles began to fail just two years into their expected 25-year life span. Solar monitoring firm Meteocontrol recently conducted a review of 30,000 installations in Europe finding that 80% were underperforming. And a Spanish power plant using panels from six manufacturers experienced defect rates as high as 34.5%, according to testing by Enertis Solar in 2010.
Apparently, all these failures stem from poor-quality manufacturing. In the heated rise of the solar industry, manufacturers have started cutting corners to gain a competitive edge on price. Fingers point especially to Chinese companies making big sacrifices in order to offer cheap product.
While this is very bad news for the solar industry, there is a silver lining: Solar panels – if built with good materials – work for years and years. For instance, Yingli Solar, the world’s largest solar panel maker since 2012, has been providing excellent products since its establishment in 1998. In fact, Yingli Americas has only had 15 defective models returned out of 2.8 million shipped to the United States since 2009, and that’s a quality control record few businesses in any industry can beat.
The lesson learned is that in order for solar power to continue brightening our world, manufacturers must be held accountable for their production standards. This movement must start with the U.S. Department of Energy. Urge David Danielson, leader of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to make this move.
Dear David Danielson,
In recent months, it has become painfully obvious that quality sacrifices in solar panel production are causing widespread degradation and defects in solar panel installations. Solar power provides hope for our world’s sustainable future, but not if the technology is being badly built.
In order to avoid collapse of the solar power industry, panel manufacturers must be held accountable for quality control and performance of their products after sale. It is on behalf of both consumers and the worldwide environment that I urge you to enforce standards on solar panel manufacturers.
[Your Name Here]
photo credit: Mike Baker via Flickr


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One of the most fascinating trends I’ve encountered recently is the convergence of mobile marketing and traditional bricks and mortar retailing. When I left graduate school a decade ago, retailers were admonished to synchronize their online and offline channels; it was confusing to customers when they couldn’t return internet purchases to their local retail outlet, for example. Customers today are pushing the envelope even further and demanding more from their favorite retailers.
For example, a recent survey stated that 64% of customers took out their mobile devices to look up product information and reviews while shopping in a bricks and mortar store. Think about it! They’re standing in your store, staring at the flat screen televisions, and looking on their smartphones for reviews.
What if you added a QR code to your store signage so that customers could easily access glowing reviews of YOUR store’s service and flat screen TVs? What if by scanning that code, customers could easily access tons of useful, relevant information that would encourage them to buy from your store?
Can you see how the convergence of mobile marketing and retailing is changing how you need to think about your bricks and mortar store?
My latest article for Decoded shares even more revelations from a recent report – and how you, as a retailer, can capitalize on it. Read: Enhancing In-Store Retail Sales with Mobile Options.


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While we are only halfway through the second month of 2014, that isn’t stopping games industry analysts from making bold predictions. Michael Pachter, for example, went so far as to label Sony’s PlayStation Now a joke even before the service transitioned out of closed beta.
And now it appears Pachter is at it again, only this time as part of the Wedbush Morgan team. In a new report from the analysis firm, Wedbush predicts that Sony’s PS4 will hit 12 million units sold and Microsoft’s Xbox One will hit 9 million units sold by the end of 2014.
Pachter, along with fellow WM analysts Nick McKay and Nick Citrin, pegs the PS4 as a “phenomenal success right out of the gate.” True, Sony’s next-gen console sold extremely well in its targeted markets, crossing the 1 million mark within 24 hours.
Moreover, the PS4 is poised to post an uptick in sales when it hits the shores of its native Japan later this month. Sony has had a stranglehold over Japan for the better part of a decade, and given the PS4’s strong reception in other parts of the world it stands to reason that won’t change in the next-gen.
That being said, the Wedbush analysts still believe the Xbox One is trailing behind the PS4, and will do so throughout 2014. When all is said and done, the analysts believe the PS4 will hit 12 million units and the Xbox One will hit 9 million.
Additionally, the trio expects the Wii U will continue to struggle this year and top out somewhere around 3 million units. They do acknowledge the impending releases of Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 — both in the spring — as potential system movers, but only marginally so. They see Nintendo as continuing on their current path (i.e. trying to rebound from declining sales) for the next two years, and ultimately don’t believe they will succeed.
Overall, though, the WM analysts see 2014 as a great year for the games industry, with console sales obviously up from where they were in the past few years. Their predictions are not quite as bold as we’ve come to expect from Pachter since it’s no secret that the PS4 and Xbox One are neck and neck, with Sony’s console poised to make a killing in Japan.
Regardless of sales predictions, it’s certainly an exciting time to be a gamer, and E3 2014 should generate a ton more interest in these next-gen consoles. As far as sales numbers, we still have 10 whole months to get through first.
Do you think PS4 will outsell the Xbox One in 2014? Do you think Nintendo will rebound this year?
Source: Dual Shockers


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Amouranth has a lot to smile about (pic: Amouranth/Pexels)
The Twitch streamer has revealed that she is moving away from her lewd content to a more mainstream style, starting this week.
Kaitlyn Siragusa, better known as Amouranth, has been talking about her financials once again, stating that her OnlyFans site sees a whopping 1.4-1.5 million visitors a month.
Amouranth is currently in an exclusive club of top earners on the website, drawing an average of seven figures per month for her extensive backlog of explicit content. This puts her in the top 1% of earners on the website.
However, even with this large cash flow, the content apparently doesn’t align with where she wants to take her brand in the coming months. As such, Amouranth announced on Twitter that she intends to invest more into Twitch, and will be closing her OnlyFans down.
How will Amouranth earn money after OnlyFans?
However, with Twitch becoming her ‘investment’, Amouranth will probably have to rely on donations and sponsorships for her channel to remain viable as a business venture.
The company blocked her from earning ad revenue, due to advertisers not wanting to be associated with her content.
Her current Twitch subscriptions total an estimated 14,948, putting her at 48 in the top subscribed users on the service. This includes those who have used their ‘free’ subscription with Amazon Prime. She was also ranked 48 in the Twitch earnings leak last year.
While Twitch has seemingly closed any chances of her getting revenue from the adverts that play before and during her stream, Amouranth still has a Patreon with 363 patrons paying a minimum of £15.50 a month for access to content and her private Snapchat.
Siragusa’s Patreon also has options for £46 and £77 a month, which includes more explicit content, however it can be assumed that she will change what these offer once she closes her OnlyFans account. Her Fansly account – the direct competitor to OnlyFans – also has thousands of subscribers, ranging from $8.99 to $200 dollars for a ‘VIP’ package.
Amouranth gas stations and investments
Amouranth owns a petrol station that she leases out to Circle K, a major brand in the US. On top of this, she has bought a pool toy company – to fit with her hot tub streams – and even purchased ‘a quarter’ of a 7-11, a US supermarket. She has also invested in companies like Google.
These purchases all appear to be offsetting her loss of income from closing the OnlyFans account, as the passive income from owning or leasing them should make up the difference.
They will also ensure that she owes less income tax, as she shared that titbit in another tweet.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.


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Agartala, May 26: The Central Government’s initiative to setup a silk printing unit in Tripura is going to boost the sericulture sector of the state.
Earlier, the printing of the silk saris was done from outside the state, which is a lengthy and expensive process.
With sericulture, or silk farming, becoming popular as a side income, especially among rural people, the Tripura government is making all possible efforts to increase silk production through adaptation of modern techniques. Several silk reeling and spinning centers have come up in Tripura to cope up with the increasing production of silk cocoon.
The initiative got a boast after being engaged with the Mahatma Gandhi tiol Rural Employment Gurantee Act Act (MGNREGA).
With technical help from the Central Silk Board, the state has gone for modernisation of silk reeling centres throughout the state with facility of semi-automatic reeling machines besides twisting machine and other necessary facilities.
Tripura produces one of the best qualities of silk. (ANI)


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A leaked teaser trailer appears to confirm that Bethesda Softworks is working on Rage 2.
As we reported last week, a listing on Walmart Canada’s website appeared to show (briefly, before it was removed) that Rage 2 exists. And now, a teaser trailer for the game has been leaked onto the internet. Bethesda has been attempting to remove it, but Twitter user Wario64 managed to grab it for posterity.
The teaser shows that Rage 2 will very much share the original 2011 game’s Mad Max vibe – albeit with a surprising amount of pink and yellow in the colour palette. Beyond that, we currently know very little, but Bethesda will surely give Rage 2 a big unveiling at this year’s E3 Show in Los Angeles in June.
It’s entirely possible that Bethesda might decide to unveil Rage 2 before then, however, given the persistent leaks, so you might want to keep an eye on its website.


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A collection of news and information related to Sean Hill published by this site and its partners.
Displaying items 1-4 of 4 » View herald-mail.com items only
Few players walk away physically unscathed after a career in professional football. From Greg Baty and his crooked pinky finger to Gene Atkins and his well-documented struggles with dementia, the 1994 Miami Dolphins are no different. Today, with most...
Tags: Weight, Depression, Head Injuries, Laws, Medical Research
Associated Press WriterApple Inc.'s newest iPhone was selling briskly Thursday as thousands lined up outside stores around the world to become among the first to own the device amid concerns of supply shortages. The iPhone 4's launch began in Japan and sold out by early...
Brand XIn keeping with the brevity subject matter, I'll try to be brief: If you are on Twitter, and love literature, then the hot user to follow these days is "Very Short Story" AKA writer Sean Hill -- who uses Edgar Allan Poe, seen above -- as his avatar. Which...
Tribune staff reporterMichael Leighton "deserved a better fate," in the opinion of Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter. Leighton stopped 46 shots, but the rookie goaltender's destiny was to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 Wednesday night in the United Center on Eric Cole's goal...
Tags: Sports, Hurricanes, Steve Poapst, Arturs Irbe, United Center
Sep 24, 2012 |Story| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Jun 24, 2010 |Story| WPIX-LTV
Apr 6, 2010 | Los Angeles Times
Mar 17, 2004 |Story| Chicago Tribune
Original site for Sean Hill topic gallery.


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MASSAPEQUA - Police are searching for the suspects who robbed a woman at a shopping mall in Massapequa. The incident happened on Saturday in the parking lot of the Sunrise Mall.
Cops say the 23-year-old victim told cops that the two men demanded her wallet and one claimed he had a gun. The woman says she gave them money and they took off. The woman was not injured.
Anyone with information is asked to call Nassau Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.


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As it coped with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Costco missed a Wall Street earnings per share estimate for the third quarter but posted positive comparable store sales and a big increase in e-commerce comps.
Costco’s store traffic has been a highlight of its performance through the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., according to traffic tracker Placer.ai.
Dollar Tree has reported its comparable sales trends through March 29, with quarter to date comps up 7.1% for namesake stores and up 14.4% for Family Dollar but also with a late moderation of those gains.
Williams-Sonoma posted a solid fourth quarter and fiscal year as the comparable sales across its retail brand portfolio enjoyed growth.
Although comparable sales declined significantly, J.C. Penney earnings contrasted with Wall Street estimates for a fourth quarter loss.
Kohl’s may have improved its momentum as the third quarter ended with a comparable store sales increase, but it missed a Wall Street estimate for the period.


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THE traditional winter heavy lamb supply gap has hit a little earlier than normal, but if exporters want to keep up the month-on-month lift in lamb export shipments they may have to push the budget even higher to attract supplies.
Lamb exports for May have lifted again signalling the overseas demand for Australian product is not diminishing.
All up Australia exported a total of 29,540 tonnes (shipped weight) of lamb during May according to Department of Agriculture figures. That's nearly 2000t more lamb than was shipped during April.
The 2019 calendar year to date figure was also up about 13,182t when compared with the same time last year.
Breaking down the results further, the year to May shipments for NSW hit 29,017t, which was about 1120t more than the same period in 2018.
"The growth in demand from China and the US in particular, has translated into strong domestic farm gate prices, with the national mutton indicator breaking through 600c/kg (carcase weight) in May for the first time and lamb prices now on par with the record highs of August 2018," said Meat and Livestock Australia's Sheep Industry Projections June Update.
Lamb exports to China in May hit 7414t and continued the trend of solid demand to this market.
China purchased record volumes of imported product in 2018 and have continued to ramp up sheepmeat imports in 2019.
Australia also shipped about 5195t of lamb to the US during May. Australian lamb exports during the first quarter of 2019 jumped 27pc year-on-year, to 23,000t, spurred on by limited supply from Colorado feedlots.
But a reduced Australian breeding flock and generally poor lambing rates, combined with a poor weather outlook for winter has MLA forecasting a disruption to lamb supply in the coming months.
At the same time, MLA did concede that although supply was initially expected to be tighter in 2019, the first quarter lamb slaughter was up one per cent year-on-year.
The consistent lamb supply so far in 2019 is partially due to the highly irregular season, which has seen lambs that would typically reach slaughter weights last October to December hitting the market later than usual, MLA reported.
"In addition, faced with a lack of pasture, some producers were forced to offload more lambs earlier than initially planned."


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Graduate Fashion Week has announced a new award named after journalist and fashion influencer Hilary Alexander OBE.
The Hilary Alexander OBE Trailblazer Award offers a prize of £1,000 to the winning student and £250 to their university. The award will be given to the most memorable collection that reflects the UK enthusiasm for new and innovative fashion.
Both menswear and womenswear collections are eligible for the award and will be judged on their photogenic impact, innovation in cut or decoration, having a newsworthy story, and sensitive use of colour and fabric.
Hilary Alexander OBE said: “I’m a bit of a catwalk junkie. I’ve always been captivated by the new and exciting and I feel a fantastic sense of anticipation whenever I sit down to watch a show. Graduate Fashion Week is especially inspirational because you’re seeing the work of graduates who have never put their ideas and inspirations before a live audience before. It is simply brilliant when a graduate collection is enthralling, original, beautifully-made and creative in every way. I am thrilled and honoured to have this award named for me. Thank-you.”